Overcoming Fear & Stepping into the rhythm

No matter how much you seemed to know or love the dance art, one couldn't just please him. One hot afternoon, my coursemates and I were seated in groups talking and laughing loudly, cooling off from the just concluded lecture on costumes and makeup when he walked in unnoticed.

"Are these supposed to be the students for the dance technique course this year?"

We scrambled to proper sitting positions when we saw it was him and maintained absolute silence.

"Who is the representative of this class?"

The well built young man who occupied that position lifted his hand.

"We're having a master dance session tomorrow morning at 6am. Inform the rest of your colleagues who aren't here at the moment." He paused to sip from a water bottle he usually carried about.

"Failure to attend that master class tomorrow morning, and on time too, means you're automatically dropped the course"

He was about walking out and we had began whispering when he turned back to add,
"Come with a bottle of water and a clean towel"

We could not believe our ears.

"6am?...." Anita, my best friend and the best hip hop dancer I had met exclaimed.

"Well, Victor Davidson means business ladies" Thompson who we fondly called 'Thomp', my second best friend and one of the best break dancers I had seen so far said hopping on the desk before us. Anita picked the signal immediately she noticed I was unusually quiet.

"Oh no Thomp, Steph can't dance. What are we going to do?" Concern was etched in her small, beautiful face.

"We're going to teach her" he lifted my down cast face with his palm and took a superhero stance "Don't worry teddy bear, we got you".

Typical of Thomp to think everything was a joke, even in the face of reality. I brushed his hand off, picked my things quietly and walked away from them. Neither of them seemed to understand how worried I was. I wasn't just concerned that I wasn't good with the dance art, I was also scared of failing. I had come a long way as a Thespian, defying a lot of odds to study the course and become one of the best academically, I had to remain excellent.

Just as I suspected, Professor Victor Davidson was a man of his word. By 6:30am, he prevented any form of access into the dance studio.

"The dance art thrives on discipline" he told us.

I didn't find the master dance session difficult at all until he made the final announcement when we were ready to leave.

"Each of you will have a dance partner with who you will do a dance project with. This would be your assessment for this course." He asked us to pick a piece of paper from the basket he placed in front of the studio to know what kind of dance would be required of us, and with whom.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

"I have to dance salsa with Amos?"

"That jerk?" Thomp didn't hide his disgust.

"Guys, I've been thinking about this whole thing and I think we should teach Steph to dance. It doesn't matter who she's dancing with, your grades are what matter Steph. Remember your goal"

Anita was right. My parents had wanted me to study a different course, they felt Theatre Arts was a wild course for their child. This unsupportiveness made me strive to be the best at the course and so far, I had succeeded.

"So what if I don't meet up? Project is in a couple of weeks."

"Birds don't just fly they fall down and get up, nobody learns without getting it wrong" Shakira - Try Everything

I recognized those lyrics immediately

"Have you been listening to Shakira?" Anita laughed.

"I heard the song couple of days back and I'm in love with it"

I sighed. "So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to talk to Amos. We can't have you learning while he's gallivanting around like a no good that he is"

"No Thomp, don't…" I yelled after him but he was gone.

Anita began rehearsing with me for 30 minutes after our lectures each day. Learning to dance was a totally new experience for me and Anita was an amazing tutor but I was unbelievably slow at catching the steps and Amos was quite difficult to blend in with.

It was two days to our project when I called Anita aside, "I don't think I can do this"

She took me into an embrace and sang that Shakira's song to me again;

"Look how far you've come, you filled your heart with love.
Baby, you done enough, take a deep breath
Don't beat yourself up, no need to run so fast
Sometimes we come last but we did our best…" Shakira - Try Everything

I wiped tears from my eyes

"Thank you" I muttered into her ears.

The dance project didn't turn out as bad as I anticipated even when Amos and I missed a few steps. I didn't turn out the best but I gave it a try instead of succumbing to failure, that made me proud of myself and my friends who worked tirelessly to bring out the dancer in me.